A point of view of "smart meter." From the front lines of the fire fight...through the lens of actual global engagements reconfigured into a composite. You can never predict the outcome of a Big Burn.

1. Historic Church Annex burning on 18th Street in The Heights, March 2014
What Is Solution Architecture?
A Point Of View From The Front Lines Fighting Fires

2. If you relish crawling into a burning building, you
might have what it takes to be a Solution
Architect…

3. This is the black art of Solution Architecture
revealed through a composite of global
consulting engagements…the names are
changed*…the business case is not exposed
here…but the patent number & team are real.
*Some of my clients will recognize the name “SmartMeter” but will also see it is not specifically their project.

4. 3 Things
1. The business problem is the Big Burn…the raison
d'être of your presence on the scene.
2. Have Plan B in your pocket…you’re going to need it.
3. Business cases are fascinating…the concern for them
often seems inversely proportional to the size of the
project…make peace with that.

5. 3 More Things
1. Business managers care about business, IT people care about IT, and vendors
care about their products…this is why Solution Architecture is a black art.
2. To gain traction, solution architectures must be simple enough to be
understood by business people, technical enough to be taken seriously by IT
people, and brief enough to be consumed by both…vendors will not
consume them under any circumstance.
3. No matter how cost effective, elegant, and doable a solution, business may
choose a different one, IT may favor another, and vendors may actually sell
them something else…sometimes you have to take lemons and make
lemonade…embrace it.

6. A Tale of Two Solutions:
Is the power on?
One solution, an inexpensive logic board, minimal change management, maybe one new business
partner, no additional vendors, no change to the IT environment, focused narrowly on op-ex…and
led to a patent by the author and his team (the so-called “smart guys”).
Another solution cost hundreds of millions to implement (massive cap-ex), lengthy regulatory
hearings, required many new business partners, massive change management, a huge change to the
technology environment, and business transformation…and hundreds of layoffs (meter readers).

7. Backdrop
• The Author, a consulting architect was working at a
major global IT consulting firm.
• The composite CEO of a composite Utility tells us
about the burning issues that keep him up at night.
• The next day we decide to take a stab at the problem
of determining which side of the meter a power
outage is located.

8. The Business Problem
1. When a customer calls to report an outage, it can be difficult to
determine which side of the meter is the outage: on the house
side, it’s not the Utility’s problem…on the line side, then an
expensive truck-roll by the Utility is required to restore power.
2. As many as 50% of truck-rolls turn out to be unnecessary !
3. In the Utility business, important incentives are related to
managing op-ex…eliminating unnecessary truck rolls impacts
op-ex big time.

9. Solution No.1
• Use the electric signal on an open phone line to determine if
there is power to the meter
• If signal indicates power on, customer is told by the CSR to call
an electrician
• If signal indicates power off, roll truck to restore power to
customer
• Utility reduces costs through elimination of unnecessary truck-rolls

10. Solution Architecture No.1
Meter
New
SRADD State Response And
Detection Device
POTS Patent No.: US
6,828,906
Solution revolves around the
SRADD which negotiates a
state detection, tone detection,
and tone generation to
determine if there is power to
the meter. We generalized the
concept to apply to any
scenario involving state
detection using an open phone
line and filed for a patent.
Detailed drawings can be
viewed on the US Patent
Office Web site: HERE
Existing
Innovation zone confined
Keep existing meters
No new backend systems

11. To Be, Or Not To Be?
• No.1—simple, inexpensive technology
• Focused like a laser on op-ex reduction
• Little transformation, little change management

12. The SRADD Architecture
Voltage
Detection
Tone Logic Unit
Detection
Tone
Generation
POTS
Interface
Battery
SRADD (“the device”) may
be incorporated or affixed to
an existing meter but need not
be. The device can be added to
a meter and isolated from high
voltage by a relay or induction
type of device.
The device is coupled to a
standard telephone system or
POTS via a telephone line. But
the device could be coupled to
the Internet or a dedicated
comm network coupled to a
control center, or a wireless
network.
No interface to the Enterprise
IT environment is necessary
but is easily accomplished over
existing network if desired.
SRADD

13. Flow: User Perspective
Begin Call
Call
Service
State
Needed?
Transmit
Tones
Await
Response
Service
Call
End Call
Yes
No

14. Flow: SRADD Perspective
Begin
Monitor
Receive
Tones
Pattern
Match?
Check
Voltage
Generate
Response
Transmit
Response
End
Yes
No

15. Flow: SRADD Processing
Initiate
Report
Attempt
Report
Report
Successful?
Determine
Wait
Interval
Wait
No
Complete
Report
Yes
No
Outage
Continuing?
Yes

16. Solution No.2
(Plan B)
• Replace many millions of existing meters with new
SmartMeters at customer premises
• Significant Business and IT transformation and
change management
• Solution reduces op-ex through massive cap-ex

17. Solution Architecture No.2
Smart
Meter
Mesh
network
This highly complex solution
revolves around new
technology called SmartMeters
hitting the market over the
past 10 years. The meters can
be “pinged” by CSR to
determine outage status, auto-report
meter reads, and turn-on
and turn-off power by
remote action.
Massive new infrastructure,
change management, and
dramatic resource actions cost
hundreds of millions to billions
of dollars. The business case
was “controversial.”
Smart
Meter
Rip and replace meters
Smart
Meter
Backhaul comm
network
New suite of
SmartMeter Apps In IT
Environment
New network
New untested
network
New backend
New CSR
Process
Change
mgt
Change
mgt
Change
mgt

18. SmartMeter process flows and narratives
ran well over a hundred pages, few of
which were understood by the general
business community and many of which
were mysterious to IT…to the eternal
gratification of the software and device
vendors.

19. Which solution did the client
choose…
SRADD or SmartMeter?

20. Smartmeter !

21. Lessons Learned?
• You can never predict the outcome
of a Big Burn.
• Projects involving massive cap-ex,
Business and IT transformation, and
years to implement can have benefits
that overwhelm a too-narrow
business case.
• If you think the building was burning
when you came upon the scene, it
can get worse…but you can push
final design toward a better solution,
make new friends, and learn
something new all at the same time.
Exhausted Houston firefighters - March 2014

22. Story Notes:
• This story is based on real engagements
• Composite Utility is a global representation
• The patents we wrote are real
• Drawings based on actual Solution
Architectures
• Vision-to-implementation took the better part
of 10 years….it pays to have Plan B
• Solution No.1 was designed in a single
afternoon…to-date no one anywhere on the
planet is remotely interested in it
• The “not-so-smart guys” are still shaking their
heads…you just never know
The Author, trying to keep his head below water in Bonaire

23. “There’s nothing not-so-smart as a room full of smart
people.”
– An Experienced Consulting Architect

24. Photos Drawings Narratives Copyright © Nicholas Noecker
Patent Team (the “smart guys”): Jerry Malcolm, Scott Winters, Paul Williamson, and
Nicholas Noecker
Contact
njnoecker@yahoo.com
713.320.5937